Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in El-Alamein, Egypt today. While no statement on the contents of their talks was released so far by either side, Turkish newspaper Hürriyet Daily News reports the meeting was part of Türkiye’s policy to expand ties with various regional countries.
Prior to the meeting Cairo daily Al Ahram had reported that Fidan was to meet with Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty in Cairo to discuss regional escalations and bilateral ties as well as to prepare for possible visit to Ankara by President el-Sisi, after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Cairo in February. Talks will also include preparations for the high-level strategic council meeting, which the two leaders will co-chair. Diplomatic relations between Egypt and Türkiye were severed in 2013 after the ousting of late President Mohamed Morsi (nominated by the Muslim Brotherhood). Commercial ties between the two countries had remained intact.
Fidan’s visit to Egypt began on Aug. 4 at the invitation of the Egyptian Foreign Minister and included visits to the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, and the Egyptian Red Crescent Logistics Center there.